story by Michael Fragoso
photos by Hendrik Ballhausen
Petite wonderboy Christian Siriano smiled and chattered calmly backstage with press and a small army of celebrity friends and fans (such as Tim Gunn, Heidi Klum, Jay Alexander, Tori Spelling, Heidi Montag, Hayden Panitierre, Vivica Fox, and several other famous faces) as a public relations management nightmare raged in the more public areas of the tents at Bryant Park.
The scene outside the front doors was beyond chaotic, with ticket-wielding industry-types having to navigate a sea of frantic fans trying to snag standing room. At one point nearly half the main tent had to be evacuated and re-seated, as the gathered mass of onlookers had exceeded the fire code capacity of the 1,100-seat main Tent.
Sure, the cameras were pressed at Christian and the celebs, but the real story was the clothes. The models marched out in uniformly sky-high heels, while silhouettes were all over the map. There was a well-employed Mediterranean-inspired color palette ranging from ultramarine to nude and sunset colors, and the outfits were all well-tailored. While most of the looks were instantly recognizable as his work, Christian has still managed to renew his old ideas by using new silky fabrics and interesting crisscross patterns.
In addition to the “what you would expect” part of the line, some of the pieces were completely different, including an abstract print bodysuit, reminiscent of a superhero costume, and two out-of-this-world final gowns.
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